SPRINGFIELD - With about 75 supporters behind her, Gisella Collazo on Monday stepped outside the South Congregational Church, her temporary home for the last three months, to go return to her home and family.

As she stepped outside without fear of prosecution, the group sang "Go in peace. May your worries end. Go in peace, my friend."

Collazo, a temporary resident of the church on Maple Street since she sought sanctuary there in March, is being allowed to leave after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services granted a stay of removal on her case, allowing her to remain in the United States for one year without fear of deportation.

She hopes to use the year petitioning the federal government to allow her to remain in the United States with her American husband and American-born children.

"Today I feel happy because I am able to be back at my house with my family. I will be able to do things independently again, to take my children to the park and to live my life," she said through a translator.

Collazo, a native of Peru who is married to an American citizen and has two children, 11 and 4, who were born in the United States, sought sanctuary in the church in March while under what was described as an imminent threat of deportation. Before she sought sanctuary with the church, Collazo had been fitted with a GPS monitoring device by immigration officials and directed to board a flight within days.

A rise in deportations have come in the wake of Republican President Donald Trump's national crackdown on immigration law violations, including non-violent offenders who have been in the country for several years.

Receiving a stay of removal will prevent immigration officials from seeking to deport her for a year, and will allow her to pursue a change in her status that would allow her to stay in the county legally.

John Mohan, New England public affairs officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed that the stay of removal had been granted. He could not go into specifics about why.

"A Stay of Removal is among the courses of action that the Field Operations Director of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations has as an option that can be used at his or her discretion on a case by case basis," he said.

The decision represented a victory for the South Congregational Church and the Pioneer Valley Project, which had backed Collazo in her sanctuary effort.

Some 75 people in the chapel inside the church broke into sustained applause when Senior Pastor Tom Gerstenlauer announced that Collazo had been freed "from the bonds of bureaucratic oppression."

Gerstenlauer said the church is pleased that Collazo will now return to the Springfield home she and her husband have made for themselves and their children.

"We are glad the persecution of our sister and her family has ended," he said.

"We remain a community of faith and solidarity with Gisella and her family, and with all who suffer unjust and unfair persecution under a system of imperfect law and incompetent administration."

The church remains committed to helping out - including offering sanctuary - to anyone who finds themselves in the same circumstance as Collazo going forward.

Tara Parrish, director of the Pioneer Valley Project, said this was only Collazo's second time outside the church since the decision. The first was when she traveled to Hartford on Friday afternoon to have the GPS bracelet removed.

"We can all agree this is truly a wonderful day," Parrish said.

"We celebrate as Gizella is able to walk outside without fear. Today we celebrate as Gisella and her family can return to their lives as private citizens."

At the same time, she said, supporters of this effort cannot forget about the many families across the county living under the same fear that immigration policy will force them apart.

"We will continue to do our part to transform our unjust, racist and inhumane immigration system," Parrish said. "We will continue to stand with our undocumented friends and neighbors and lift our collective voices in love, solidarity and justice."

Christine Tetreault, the lawyer for the South Congregational Church, said it is important to note that although Collazo is leaving, the church will continue to provide sanctuary for anyone who needs it in the future.

"This is a chapter, we're not done with the book yet," she said.

"There are still issues hanging out there (with immigration policy) that we have to deal with. It's not getting better; it's getting worse," she said. "I'd love if we never had to do this again, but I think we will have to."

William Newman, head of the Western Massachusetts chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which backed the church, said "This is a great victory for humanity and a great victory for everyone who believes in treating your neighbor as yourself."

He added "We all can take great pride in how the community has stood against the Trump Administration policy of separating parents from their children."